Reunion
2012
happened
on
Saturday,
September
29
and
what
a
success!
This
year
we
welcomed
over
7000
alumni,
staff,
faculty,
students,
and
community
members
on
campus
for
a
wide
variety
of
events.
I’ll
go
into
more
detail
but
would
like
to
start
with
some
background
first.
Reunion planning begins in January, however I did not start as Alumni Officer, Reunion and Events until July 3. Thankfully some of the planning had already started before my arrival, but I still had to play a bit of catch up. For the last three months my work has revolved around Reunion, which isn’t really a bad thing if you love planning events like I do. It was three crazy months but everything came together in the end for an extremely successful event.
Now some of you may be asking what is Reunion? Is that the same as Homecoming? What if I don’t have a class reunion, can I still attend Reunion? Here are some answers for you. In 2011, the ever popular Homecoming event was renamed Reunion to better reflect what happens on campus. Most faculties plan reunions for specific graduating classes, while volunteer committees often organize events to reconnect with groups that they were a part of during their time at Waterloo.
This
year
the
dons
who
worked
under
Dr.
Ron
Eydt
during
his
time
as
Residence
Warden
planned
an
80th birthday
celebration
at
the
University
Club,
and
over
200
alumni
came
out
for
the
event!
But
even
if
you
aren’t
part
of
a
group
organizing
an
event,
there
are
always
events
open
to
alumni
and
some
even
to
students,
staff,
faculty
and
community
members.
At
Warrior
Field
(yes
Waterloo
finally
has
its
own
turf
field),
there
was
an
Alumni
VIP
tent
sponsored
by
Waterloo’s
affinity
partner
TD
Insurance
Meloche
Monnex.
There
were
1750
spectators
at
the
game,
mostly
Warriors
fans
decked
out
in
black
and
gold,
including
over
250
alumni
watching
from
the
grandstand
and
sidelines
inside
the
licensed
VIP
tent.
The
annual
traditional
Pow
Wow
and
East
Asian
Festival
are
both
open
to
the
public
and
combined
saw
over
700
attendees.
This
year
we
had
a
new
building
open
on
campus,
the
Mike
and
Ophelia
Lazaridis
Quantum-Nano
Centre,
so
we
took
advantage
by
hosting
an
open
house
which
brought
over
3000
guests
to
campus.
Lastly
I
must
make
special
mention
of
the
longest
running
event
on
campus
which
this
year
celebrated
its
27th anniversary,
the
Applied
Health
Sciences
Fun
Run.
I
must
admit
this
is
my
first
blog
and
I
don’t
really
know
the
appropriate
length
for
these
things
so
I
will
try
to
wrap
this
up
but
hopefully
you
are
still
reading.
Overall,
I
know
I
had
a
great
time
planning
my
first
Reunion
and
hope
everyone
enjoyed
being
there.
It
was
so
much
fun
for
me
to
see
all
of
the
alumni
come
back
to
campus
and
be
so
excited
to
be
here.
Groups
of
friends
reconnected
after
years
and
years
of
not
seeing
each
other
while
other
groups,
who
are
just
as
close
now
as
they
were
back
in
their
university
days,
came
back
for
a
day
of
reminiscing.
I really am lucky to have this job and be able to plan events for people who are so excited to attend. Thank you so much to the alumni who attended Reunion 2012, you really made my weekend. I look forward to seeing you all at future uWaterloo alumni events and next year’s Reunion! Also one last thank you to all the fabulous volunteers, the Reunion committee and everyone who made Reunion possible.
All the best,
Jenn Bentley
To see all of the photos from Reunion please visit our Flickr page